Charlie's Web (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter 6

And so it was that they found themselves in a bar in Bath Street, one of the cooler drinking areas of town. Unfortunately, the bar in question was so cool that it was heaving, and the queue at the bar was three deep.

"What do we do if we see someone we know?" Charlie whispered worriedly to Thea. Knowing her luck, she would run into a colleague. Like Aaron.

Thea had thought of this. "We'll tell them it's actually one of the other girl's hen nights and you wanted to try on the get-up to see what it's like. People will believe that."

"Sadly, that's true," Charlie sighed. People truly would believe she was that pathetic.

They appeared to be the only hen party in situ anyway, she noted, looking around. She could see no one else wearing a sparkly veil and "Bride to Be" banner crossing her chest as if she was a contestant in Miss World. Thankfully, people in Glasgow were so used to hen parties that they barely looked at her. Although perhaps she should be insulted about that. If no one noticed her, then how could she pull?

"Ah, it's a condemned woman!" A man lurched up beside her. A rather drunken and unattractive man. This was not the kind that she was looking to pull, that was for sure. Well, she could accept the drunken bit, but for all this trouble, she wanted a looker. Someone tall and dark, with sparkling brown eyes and a single dimple and . . . argh!!! Get that prick out of your head, she screamed at herself.

Although if she could find a lookalike who wasn't an arse, well, that would be okay. Maybe he had a twin, and Aaron was the evil one.

"Would you like to dance?" Her facially challenged suitor was slurring and his breath, right in her face, was a rank combination of whisky and garlic. The heady scent almost made her spew.

"Really, really not," she replied carefully, turning away and making an expression of horror in the direction of her friends. "Oh my god," she gasped to Thea. "He fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down," she giggled. "And found time to eat some garlic bread en route."

"Hey!" he shouted. "I heard that."

Charlie wasn't even embarrassed. She'd had just enough alcohol to let her inhibitions go. "Oops," she laughed in his face. Thea grabbed her and dragged her to the other end of the bar in case Lurch lashed out.

"I know you're drunk already," Thea muttered at her through gritted teeth. "But at this rate you'll be beaten up before you can even attempt to pull. Try and be a bit nicer, eh?"

"Yes sir!" Charlie saluted, and sat down on the edge of a booth. It belonged to a group of guys, but she needed a seat urgently and she was beyond actually asking whether or not they actually minded.

“Um . . . hi?” The voice in her ear made her jump and she nearly fell off the seat. A hand grabbed her gently by the elbow and steadied her. She turned to see the group of guys looking at her, some smiling and others a bit confused.

“If you’re going to join us, you should probably introduce yourself” laughed the man who had spoken to her first and then prevented her from falling to the floor.  He was very good looking with bright blue eyes and an amazing smile and . . . he was wearing a wedding ring. Oh well. “I’m Alex, your name is . . .?”

“Charlotte,” Charlie replied definitively. That made sense. She was playing a fake character, she should use a different name. Okay, it was her actual name but she didn't generally use it so it would be like she was someone else. 

He held out a hand to shake. “Nice to meet you, Charlotte.” He gestured around the table at the other four men sitting there. “Dean, Rob, Jake and Alex. Yep, there’s two of us. Must have been a popular name 30 years ago.”